Earlier in the year I had received the news that Karen Green, the wife of Mick had died after a long and heroic battle with cancer.

I had never met Karen but I had come to know Mick a little through his bike shop in Nottingham, Langdale lightweights.

Mick’s bike shop is famous among the cycling fraternity in Notts, opened by Mick’s Dad it is a little oasis of cycling wonderment and I had fallen immediately  in love with it when I first went in and lost myself in bike stuff.  This is a bustling little local business in the heart of a community not unlike our dental practices.

Mick runs the whole thing and is an expert at custom bike fitting, he is also now responsible for raising his two young Daughters single handedly.

Many people raise children as single parents but Mick’s whole situation really seemed to hit home to me.  A guy my age, with young children trying to keep running his own business.

I couldn’t even imagine how hard that would be, how impossible my life would feel without Alison, how I would cope with everything.

Back to the phone call….it was from Steve LLoyd, my triathlon coach and long term friend of Mick and Karen (Steve’s wife Jayne and Karen had set up our tri club).  Steve was explaining to me that Mick wanted to set up a charity in honour of Karen.  It would help patients and their families who were suffering from diseases similar to Karen’s.  To get this started Mick intended to race in the Outlaw Iron Distance triathlon.

For those unfamiliar with triathlon that involves a 2.4 mile swim in a lake followed by 112 miles on the bike and concluding with a marathon.

Steve was asking me if I wanted to become involved and race it too.  He knew this was an ambition of mine in a few years and suggested I bring it forward.

I was amazed and inspired by Mick’s plans and determination and signed up.  Soon after that I accepted an invitation to become one of the four trustees of the newly formed Karen Green Foundation. As I write we have around 40 individuals and teams entered for the Outlaw.

We aim to raise as much as we can to help support patients and families suffering from the effects of leukaemia and other such diseases of the blood in our little part of the world.

For my part I initially committed to racing the whole thing but after a month or so reality struck and I stepped back to pledge to compete in a relay team.  I will be doing the 112 mile bike ride after our teams swimmer.

The race begins at 06.00am on July 1st at the National watersports centre in Nottingham with 1000 people taking to the lake for a mass start, it is quite a sight to behold.

It will be a wonderful day for all involved with ups and downs and pain in the legs followed by exhaustion and relief and lots of chocolate for me but the most important thing is to raise as much money as possible to help individuals and families in what may be the hardest times of their lives.

For more info on the foundation please check out the website www.karengreenfoundation.com

But in the immortal words of Bob Geldof during live aid in 1984….”just give us your @@$%&$@ money!”

www.justgiving.com/ColinCampbellfa2

Thank you so much.

cx

Shakeel is internationally renowned in the provision of aesthetic implant cases and has previously lectured in Nottingham many years ago, which is where I first met him.

He will be making a flying visit to Nottingham, specifically for this evening to provide the audience with some fantastic tips on how to provide exceptional aesthetic implant treatment for cases based on ITI protocols.

Shakeel will allow us to make assessment of patients and show which ones we can achieve fantastic results on and which ones are destined to be a compromised case.

It surely is an evening not to be missed and for details on how to attend this meeting please contact me at colincampbellfa@gmail.com or ITI members can log-in to ITI Net.

Artist: Johnny Cash

Album: The man comes around

This one is a guilty pleasure. Listening to Zane Lowe one night, a long while ago, he played a Johnny Cash cover of a nine inch nails song called ‘Hurt’. It was a showstopper. What ever I was doing at that time I stopped and listened to the whole of the song and thought it was amazing. I meant to go and buy this (it was the days before I was buying things on my phone) but never got round to it.

Eventually, for one reason or another, I heard something to do with Johnny Cash again and I went and bought the album. ‘The man comes around’ is an album of covers, mostly of older country and western songs but 1 or 2 real crackers that are unexpected.

It is interesting that 1 of the songs is ‘the streets of loredo’ which is a country and western song that I performed to when I was in primary school so maybe I have just got a soft spot for this.

Also, I am a little bit embarrassed to admit that the first single I ever bought as a little boy was ‘coward of the county’ by Kenny Rogers so as I write this now I think that perhaps I am a closet country and western fan.

If you don’t fancy the whole album, then spend 99p on Hurt by Johnny Cash.

It is a truly stunning track and 1 of those covers that is completely different from the original and really quite unique.

Film – The Pirates!  – In an adventure with scientists

As a family we have always loved everything one by Aardman Animation, from the Wallace and Gromits to Chicken Run and pretty much anything else. My kids (particularly Callum) have sat four hours in front “Ollis and Gromit” with big belly laughs out loud all the way through.

We were delighted when we saw The Pirates! Being advertised and decided to take my kids and some of their friends to see this in the Easter Holidays.

BIG DISSAPOINTMENT!!

I was just really expecting belly laughs everywhere and a real enjoyable film for the kids and the adults. Don’t get me wrong, the animation is fantastic and the whole thing looks absolutely stunning on the big screen but it just wasn’t as funny as it should have been and I just couldn’t help thinking that it had been  “dumbed down” for an American audience as these things sometimes are.

Disappointing 3 out of 10 – I don’t recommend that you go out of your way to see this.

Book: Happier

Author:  Tal Ben Shahar

A few years ago my friend Ferg and I had drunken, philosophical conversation at a villa in Portugal around the whole concept of happiness, work/life balance and the meaning of life etc.

I have been interested in the whole psychology mindset thing for a long while, ever since I saw a lecture on emotional intelligence based around the Daniel Goleman principles in the early 2000’s.

I have read a lot around this subject but after the conversation with Ferg in Portugal, where he said to me “I never realised you were so cranky” he kind of got interested in the same sort of subject too.

I was surprised to hear that he was reading a book called happier, we talked about it when we were on a trip to Switzerland for an implant course and afterwards he gave me the book.

Typical me, I stuck it on a shelf with all the rest of the books that I have to read and never got round to it. As I was ready to go on holiday to Yorkshire at Easter I decided to download it as an audio book and listen to it whilst I was walking the dog.

It is a fabulous book, fantastic concept and I was glad that it referenced lots of other books, some of which I have read. It is base around the author’s life and his search for what he thinks is “the ultimate currency”

Tal ben is an academic psychologist who lectures at Harvard University. He set up a course for under graduate students on happiness when he turned up to University. It started as a very esoteric little lecture and became the most popular and over subscribed course at the University.

There is no doubt that there is a world full of people who are existing “in quiet desperation” and this book really addresses that whole phenomenon and gives you simple ideas on how to changes things.

I know it might be “a bit cranky” but it is a fantastic book and if you get the chance to download it as an audio book and listen to it, I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Whilst working in those practices I watched a member of staff who had been a receptionist and trainee dental nurse elevate her way through to practice manager of 2 practices with 11 dentists. I was also able to train several dental nurses myself in oral surgery and implant dentistry and really did feel at that time that there was much more that we could achieve if we put some time and resources into valuable members of staff.

Since acquiring my own practices, about 3 years ago, I now have 4 DCP’s including a CDT, an orthodontic therapist and 2 hygienists. All of these guys are absolutely fantastic and have really specific skill sets, which allow us to push on as an organisation. The CDT, Mark Melbourne, was previously my implant technician but decided to give up technical work to become a clinical dental technician. His attitude to his work is fantastic, he is a great example to the practice and he is really, really grateful to be allowed to be a clinician. I think this is the biggest thing that sets good DCP’s apart.

Many dentists seem jaded and a little bit fed up with their lot in life whereas many of the DCP’s are still like young children who are fascinated by their environment and delighted to be given a chance to do what they do. Mark will go from strength to strength in my businesses, as will Debs, our orthodontic therapist who has fantastic patient management skills and allows us to fulfill our orthodontic contract.

We also have our hygienists Karen and Gill. Karen has set herself apart as being an “expert” in peri-implant disease and now lectures on that subject. She has helped me develop protocols at the practice for maintenance for implant patients and I believe we a re at the very forefront of this.

None of this even considers the team at the practice that we develop more and more. I am so proud to see people who have become, senior dental nurses, implant dental nurses and have progressed onto being marketing assistants, PA’s, treatment co-ordinators or implant co-ordinators in the practice.

We will continue to invest heavily in our team and DCP’s because we really believe that these guys are the future and they are generally happier and more grateful than your average associate!

One of the problems with this situation was that it was hard to speak to patients about something that you had little belief in. At that time I wasn’t providing the procedure myself and I didn’t really feel that I could speak with a great deal of confidence about it and I think that came across to the patients and they just weren’t interested in it.

I decided to try and rectify that by learning much more about it an initially I went to shadow the maxillofacial surgeon (Phil Hollows) who was providing the treatment.

I watched the lifts being done and was much more intrigued at the fact that I felt it would be something I could easily carry out with my oral surgery skills already present.

More research in the form of peer review ensued and I would discuss it with people at conferences who were providing sinus lifts who were universally of the opinion that I should already be doing this and that I shouldn’t hang about.

I was keen though to get some form of formal training under my belt before I started to provide these in practice and I was privileged enough to go to the University of Gratz in Austria on the Geistich Cadaver course, part of which was the provision of sinus lifts.

I was lucky enough on that occasion to travel with Rob Dyas, the implant surgeon from Sheffield, and he had provided hundreds of sinus lifts and I could chat to him and pick his brains about it.

Following that, I was able to get going, but continued to keep up to date with some text books and by attending any courses or events where I would find out more information.

The whole process culminated fantastically this year with the publication of the ITI’s 5^th Treatment Guide, which is entirely centered around sinus floor elevation. I really feel it has been a fantastic journey and I am now in a good position having provided well over 100 sinus grafts.

It is also fantastic to see some of the dentists I have mentored over the years beginning the process as I did about 5 years ago, starting to provide sinus grafts for their own patients.

The final piece of the jigsaw, for the moment for me, will be to attend the master class at the University of Bern in January 2013 run by Danny Buser, which centers around bone grafting and sinus floor elevation.

Hopefully this will provide me with some assurance that I am going about my business in the correct fashion.

In my quest this year to listen to some music that I have not listened to before I downloaded both these albums after hearing snippets on Radio 1 of both artists.

Both of these guys fall into the same kind of category and that is that category where you would go to a concert and sit down and listen to them instead of standing up and jumping around. Infact, on Radio 1, they did suggest that Benjamin Francis Leftwich’s concerts are pretty much like that.

It is soft, thoughtful, emotional, ‘hippy-like’ music from both albums and they are terrifically relaxing. Particularly, from my view, for dog walking in the mornings.

The music is very arty and probably quite intellectual (if I could understand what the lyrics meant) but both really nice, easy to listen to albums which are calming and peaceful.

I flit between which one I prefer but I think on balance, the winner is….

Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

Author – Gene Brewer

My wife has a cousin called Beth who is a science graduate from the University of Sheffield and she is now aged 22 or 23.

I have known Beth since she was 6 years old. Since Beth was about 10 I have been copying the books that she is reading whenever I meet her because she has such a great taste which seems to fit with the things I really enjoy.

This started with Children’s books like Artemis Fowl and progressed onto His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman which are perhaps some of the most important books I have ever read.

She has never given me a bad recommendation from age 10 onwards and I have always trusted whatever she is reading and generally got hold of it and read it.

There is an added advantage to this as whenever it comes round to a Birthday or Christmas, generally Alison’s aunt will ask Beth what book she likes and they will buy it for me.

This was the case in 2011 when for my Birthday I received K-Pax by Gene Brewer. I had no idea of what K-Pax was, I had never heard of it before and I was surprised to see Kevin Spacey on the front cover and to discover the fact that it had been made into a film.

If I am honest, when I first looked at it, I wasn’t particularly impressed but because it was a “Beth Book” I thought I had better read it because it must be good!

I started to read it and was completely entranced by it. It is the only time I have finished a book and not really been sure whether it was fiction or non-fiction. Infact, I had to Google it and still didn’t manage to find the answer.

Time passed and I read other books and basically forgot about K-Pax until for my 40^th Birthday this year, I received K-Pax 2. I then discovered that there are 3 main K-Pax books.

K-Pax 2 manages to carry on fantastically from K-Pax 1 and continues to address the issues through the wonderful story that it tells.

I won’t explain what the book is about but it is a pretty complicated set-up which strikes at the very heart of what you believe and questions your ability to believe the things you see around you.

It is hilariously funny in places but terribly sad in others.

It is just a fantastic emotional read and I would recommend anyone to pick it up and get going with it like I did.

I have always enjoyed the ADI and ITI master classes where you have the opportunity to listen to a clinician who is generally truly exceptional and to see some fabulous clinical work and hopefully learn some tips.

This master class was no exception as Michael Pikos is an exceptional oral and maxillofacial clinician who has been practicing at the highest level for many years in the United States and is a true “early adopter”

Although much of the work and many of the examples that were shown by Michael were way outside my clinical sphere, it was extremely interesting to see many of the ways he approached cases, particularly those with significant bone loss. It is perhaps a view of the future of how things will develop.

In particular, he uses chemical morphogens such as rhBMP-2 (bone morphogenic protein) and when mixed with a bone substitute material provides astonishing results in re-growing bone, generally underneath Titanium membranes.

It was also pleasing to see that someone like Dr Pikos is happy to present some of his complications and cases that didn’t go so well as this clearly demonstrates the pit falls of using such techniques.

It was one of those master classes where I left wondering if I had actually learned anything new to take back to my practice (and it would be disappointing I hadn’t) but the following day I carried out a sinus floor elevation, lined the cavity with a membrane (Pikos style) and it was one of the nicest sinus procedures I have carried out.

I have always worked on the principle that if I learned 1 new thing from a CPD event then it was worth attending. Its also great to catch up with friends that you haven’t seen in a while in a fantastic environment, in the Royal College of Surgeons, and there was almost 300 people in attendance which is a huge tribute to the ADI and the master classes they provide.